


The Tanaka Family Dictionary

by kiryuinsisters



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Gen, One Shot, Pre-Dangan Island
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-24
Updated: 2014-01-24
Packaged: 2018-01-09 21:12:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1150839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiryuinsisters/pseuds/kiryuinsisters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Before Gundam heads off to primary school, he learns some new words for the day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Tanaka Family Dictionary

**Author's Note:**

> My personality is literally 95% depressing sdr2 headcanons so I thought I'd do a little one shot of Tanaka Gundam as a primary school student living with his mum.

Crenate – having a scalloped margin, as certain leaves.

Gundam giggled to himself, sitting at the kitchen table with his father’s old dictionary. Crenate… It was a good word; one that rolled off the tongue nicely. Gundam knew a lot of words, and that was something he was very proud of. In fact, he was probably the smartest boy in the second grade at school. He made a special note of the word crenate, thinking of all the ways he could use it today.

Gundam’s mother stood in the kitchen, peeling the leaves off a head of lettuce. She was glad to have a son that liked healthy food, and tried to make him homemade lunches whenever she could. Grabbing a bundle of leaves, she took them over to the sink to wash them off. She turned the tap on and put the leaves under the water, but she fumbled them and they fell everywhere. Looking down at the lettuce leaves sitting at the bottom of the sink, she let out a long sigh.

Crepuscular – of or like twilight; dim. Gundam really liked that one. He would tell that one to Sosuke at school today. Gundam didn’t know a lot about friends, but one time Sosuke had brought his puppy in for show and tell and let Gundam pet it so he guessed they were something like friends now. Sosuke and his friends were a little mean to him sometimes, but Gundam was sure they’d appreciate how clever he was when he told him about the word crepuscular.

Pulling a knife from the drawer, Gundam’s mother got to work on the tomatoes. The bandaged cuts on her left fingers from clumsy slicing in the past started hurting in anticipation, likely to suffer the same fate today.

“Gundam sweetie, have you fed all the animals?”

“Yes mum,” he mumbled, turning over to the next page. Cretonne – a heavy cotton or linen fabric with a printed design, used for furnishing.

“Have you double checked? Mummy’s going to be very busy with grown-up stuff so she won’t be able to do it for you.”

Gundam rolled his eyes. “Yes mum, of course I double checked.” Cromlech – a circle of prehistoric standing stones. Very cool.

“Alright, young man. No need to get snappy with me.” Gundam’s mother looked over at him with his head buried inside the hefty book and sighed affectionately. “Where are you up to, honey?”

“Crone – a witchlike old woman.” Gundam looked up and gave him mum a big, dopey grin. “Can you imagine if I called the teacher a crone? How funny would that be! I’m sure all the kids in my class would laugh.”

Gundam’s mother put down the knife and sighed. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like some other books? I’m sure I can find something a little more appropriate for someone your age, you know. We could even go to the library! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“I told you mum, I’ve gotta learn all the words.” Croupier – a person who deals cards, collects bets, etc., at a gaming table. “Daddy knew a lot of big words and he had lots and lots of friends!”

“Yeah, people sure did love your daddy…” His mother looked down at the lopsided mess she’d made of the tomatoes on the cutting board, more smooshed than sliced. She scraped them off into the bin, throwing a pack of chips in Gundam’s bag instead as per usual. “Alright, it’s time for you to head off to school.”

Gundam slid his bookmark into the dictionary and closed it up, leaving it on the table. Most days it stayed there, ready and waiting for him when he got home from school. Back in the old days he wouldn’t have been allowed to, but his mum didn’t do a lot of cleaning anymore. Gundam didn’t really mind the mess, just so long as the animals always had fresh straw.

“Alright, have a good day at school honey,” his mum said, bending over to give him a hug. “Try not to get in any trouble today.”

“It’s alright mum. I don’t let what the other kids say bother me. After all, I’ve gotta be a big boy now so I can take care of my mummy!” He smiled up at her, his face full of the sort of naivety that only a child could possibly have. His mum sighed and hugged him again, a little tighter this time.

“I love you Gundam, and your father loved you too. Don’t ever forget that.”

“Mum, I gotta go,” he pointed out, grabbing his bag. Gundam’s mother watched as her son skipped out the door, full of life. Her heart ached as she realised that yet again she was left home alone all by herself. She sat down at the table and looked down at the old dictionary, choking back the tears that were welling up. Placing her hand on the book, she whispered quietly.

“I’m sorry, honey. I’m sorry I couldn’t be a better mother for our son.”


End file.
